15 August 2011

Report : Cosfest X.1[06.2011] in Downtown East/Singapore

After seeing AFA-X[2010], my next mission is to go to a Singapore[SG] Cosplay event. As many know, SG has two major cosplay only events, one is Cosfest in June/July, the one is EOY(End Of Year) in Dec. Unfortunately, I had never been to any one of them yet. This is mainly because of seasonality. June has no public holidays in Japan. December is the busiest month for many people working in Japan.

But at last, I tried to make some days-off in June, had been to Cosfest successfully. Here's my report for Cosfest X.1 in 2011.

[Overall impressions] In my report of AFA-X, I wrote personal impressions of the SG cosplay scenesand culture. I pointed out these features:

* Youth oriented * Coscard is not common * Taking photos in a circle * Couple cosplaying is not special * Mom's visit is not special * Jyosou(cross-cosplaying by male cosplayers) is not banned * Taking souvenir-photo is OK

All these features are good for this Cosfest X.1. But some of cosplayers remembered me. they gave me their coscards in this Cosfest.

[The size of the event]Compared to major cos-events held in Tokyo(*1), Cosfest is a rather small event by comparison, I think. But one of the good point is that Cosfest is a free event (*2), and with almost no regulations(*3).

[The site/Downtown East] I have been to there once nearly ten years before. The structure is almost the same as before. I can see many signboard of Cosfest X.1 in Downtown East(please see photos). The main hall is like a huge Pao(Mongolians' tent). The building with Doujin booths is like a small warehouse, I feel. But Cosplayers and photographers can go everywhere around these sites.

(The entrance of Downtown East)

(The acess path to the main hall)

(At the courtyard)

[The stage events in the main hall]
Sorry, I didn't pay attention to the stage events since I'm very busy taking photos(^^;.

[The Doujin booths in the annex(warehouse?) hall]
I don't know so much for Singapore Doujin scenes. But I could meet Ume-chan(or Umehiko-san, AFA-X official cartoonist) there.

(Inside of the sub-hall, having many(?) Doujin booths)

OK. Let me introduced some cosplayers who I met in Cosfest X.1 The sequence is in chronological sequence.----------------------------------------------------------------

DAY-1 #1 CN: Unknown(*10)Referenced Work: Panty and Stocking(as Panty ?)Comment: This is taken in front of the warehouse. The costume is a good choice for outdoor photo shooting (Singapore has all-year summer climate.)

DAY-2 #4 CN: Melissa[blog] CN: Ben Referenced Work: Tegami Bachi(Melissa as Aria Walker, Ben as Gauche Suede)Comment: Both she and I remembered each other for seeing in AFA-X. In Cosfest, she formed Awase(team-cosplaying). Tegami-Bachi cosplay is rarely seen in Japanese cos-events. I guess that the costume is very hot to wear in Singapore...

DAY-1 #6 CN：音月（Himeji Ototsuki）[D/A, cure: 222229] Referenced Work: Madoka Magika(Madoka)Comment: Both she and I remembered each other for seeing in AFA-X. Ototsuki-san's skill is still outstanding. Her D/A site has much better photos, taken in Cosfest X.1.

DAY-1 #7

CN: The lindra[facebook, D/A, cure: 122025] Referenced Work: Voaloid-Luka(> World is Mine)Comment: This costume is very popular in Japan. This costume work is very fine.]

DAY-1 #8 CN: Miko[facebook] Referenced Work: Macross-F(> Ranka Lee)Comment: Yes, this costume is also extremely popular in Japanese cos-events.

DAY-1 #9 CN: Miyuki[D/A] Referenced Work: Vocaloid Derivative(Meguppoid)Comment: Again, both she and I remembered each other for seeing in AFA-X. Vocaloid Deri ative characters are well seen in Japanese cos-events. But Meguppoid ishard to find. This photo is taken in the main hall(sorry, it's very dark).

DAY-1 #10

CN: Lirin[blog] Referenced Work: (original creation)Comment: There is a meido-san there, too. This photo is also taken in the main hall--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DAY-2 #1 CN: Unknown(*10)Referenced Work: Final Fantasy (> Yuna)Comment: Thanks for both good costume work and hand props.

DAY-2 #3 CN: Yuna Referenced Work: UnknownComment: Yuna-san mentioned that this work was from a Chinese-made PC game. But I don't know the name of the title.

DAY-2 #4 CN: 三春/Miharu[facebook, D/A, Cure: 269525] Referenced Work: Hatsune Miku(> Sandplay)Comment: This in one of my best photo. Personally, I'm very pleased with this good photo shooting. Thanks.

DAY-2 #5 CN: 小鱼[blog, Cure: 224662] CN: SHIN[Facebook, Cure: 271147] Referenced Work: Vocaloid Rin-Len(小魚 as Rin, SHIN as Len)Comment: Vocaloid Rin-Len is still very popular character in a Japanese cos-events. The Black wall is a curtain in the main hall.

DAY-2 #6 CN: Cheryl[blog, D/A, Cure: 104705] From: Malaysia Referenced Work: Macross-F(> Sheryl)Comment: Again, both she and I remembered each other for seeing in AFA-X. She cosplayed Sheryl in a different costume in AFA-X. In this Cosfest, she cosplayed the flag version Sheryl. This is very rare to see in Japanese cos-events since the costume of this version is not sold as ready-to-wear costume.

DAY-2 #7 CN: Akimoto Yumi[D/A, cure:270519] From: Malaysia Referenced Work: Macross-F(> Grace O'Connor)Comment: Grace O'Connor is the only female villain in the work, and is rarely seen character in Japanese cos-events. Both costume work and posing is so good.

DAY-2 #8 as Team-The-Mado-Magi CN: Xrystal[D/A, cure: 17914] as Kyoko CN: Sakana[D/A, cure: 7798] as Madoka CN:元元/Yuanie[website, Cure: 18650] As Homura Referenced Work: Madoka MagikaComment: Xrystal-san and Sakana-san cosplayed "Panty and Stocking" in AFA-X. I remembered them so much since the arms(hand props) is very flashy and excellent. They remembered me so much. In this cosfest X.1, they gave me their coscards(I guess that they have read my report for AFA-X....). In this Cosfest X.1, they formed Team-The-Mado-Magi in this Cosfes X.1. Please see the photos as below.

*2) Tokyo cos-events cost usually from JPY1,000 up to JPY2,500 for cosplayers. Compared to a typical movie admission fee(JPY1,800), it's not always expensive. Free cos-events is rarely held, but is available sometimes. For example, Festival Walk Soga has periodically a free cos-event. But it's in Soga town(outer Tokyo area, taking one hour train ride from the center of Tokyo).

*3) All the cos-events in Tokyo have very tight rules/regulations. You will be surprised at reading full text of regulations If you can read Japanese. If you like to join to a Japanese cos-event, you may need a (near)native cosplayer as a guide, I think.(*4) Compared to these Tokyo cos-events, Cosfest nearly has no regulations. Huge props(like big wings), small arms-like props(rifles, handguns, swords), and Joso(Cross cosplaying by male cospaler) are all accepted.

*10) I failed to ask her for contact info. If you(i.e. reader of this article) know the contact info of the cosplayer(or who she is, where her site is) , please tell me via comment.------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thanks for all cosplayers. See you again in 08.2011/STGCC.